The long standing method for creating and designing two- and three-dimensional shapes requires interaction with computational systems through keyboards and a mouse. Typical functions are enabled by the user pointing the mouse at specific locations on the screen and by manipulating the displayed image using icons on windows. This interface, often dubbed “Windows-Icons-Menus and Pointers” (WIMP), has been the primary mode of interaction with 2D and 3D content represented on computers. In the area of 3D modeling the modeling tools are typically based on 2D input devices, WIMP driven interfaces and stringent procedural steps, and remain difficult to use and time-consuming to learn. Most of these tools rely on initially creating geometry as 2D artifacts and then transforming those artifacts into a 3D geometry through tedious operations built into predetermined procedures.
The complicated nature of the current computer-based design keeps 3D modeling outside the grasp of the common un-trained user. Move over, current techniques severely curb the ability of humans to generate, manipulate and interact with shapes, and adversely influence creativity, which lies at the core of shape conceptualization. It has been said that, “conceptual design can be seen as a cognitive process, in which ideation, externalization, synthesis and manipulation of mental entities, called design concepts, takes place in symbiosis in a short-term evolutionary process”. (Horvath, I., On some Crucial Issues of Computer Support of Conceptual Design, Product Engineering Ecodesign Technologies and Green Energy: 123-142 (2004)). The nature and speed of current interactions and the disconnect between concepts and their expressions are the attributes of the current computer-based tools and systems that has stifled the evolution of conceptual design of shapes or creative games, particularly those requiring 3D interactions with environments that combine virtual and physical environments.
Current highly digitized industrial processes have tended to overlook the role of the designer in the process itself. For instance, the interfaces of computer-aided-design (CAD) software are typically counterintuitive and the lack of spontaneity afforded by the current CAD modeling methods can be disruptive to the design and creative process. Although computer systems commonly provide parametric functions for creating 3D geometric-models, the conceptual design process is still cognitively tedious, requires significant training to use computer graphics and CAD tools, and is time-consuming to learn and use. This is not only true of CAD software, but of all computer tools in general. These computers and programmatic interactions occur in unnatural ways that are cognitively tedious and that complicate the creation of real, unreal and imagined shapes.
Computational support systems for design applications can be categorized as: (1) goal driven routine design systems (used by those who have significant domain knowledge); (2) exploratory design systems (intended towards brainstorming and facilitating creativity); and (3) evolutionary design systems (aimed at supporting the developmental mode of graphic ideation i.e. focused exploration involving the evolution of a single concept). Most current commercial design systems fall into the first category. Some very recent theoretical work has been directed towards the other two categories, but no commercially-realizable system has yet been created.
In the human design process, visual ideas are expressed by acting them out, talking about them, or even writing them. Hardware and software has gradually evolved to address the way humans intuitively design or create. The invention of the mouse in 1970 by Doug Engelbart is an example of the evolution of human interaction with computers and the corresponding evolution of our way of creating, manipulating, developing and accessing digital information. The key impact of this invention was that it mapped physical human motion, typically in a 2D plane, into a corresponding action on a virtual user interface. Recent innovations in capacitive touch-based interfaces have taken a significant step forward in the human-machine interface and have further reduced the “distance” between the computer and the user in a 2D interface. However, the WIMP (windows, icons, menus, and pointers) paradigm has remained dominant in human-computer interactions despite growing discussions that reality-based systems facilitate expert human-computer interaction with little or no prior instructions to the user. Just like one does not need a manual to use everyday objects, in a similar manner it would be extremely desirable that the human-computer interface allow the user to easily play around with objects in the real world represented virtually as the interface itself.
Despite the advancement of 3D geometric modeling techniques for animation, gaming and other scenarios, the current computer-based tools are unable to facilitate a designer environment that is congenial for creation and creative exploration of shape concepts in a fluid manner without extensive learning of tool use. The current highly digitized industrial tools split the 3D modeling process into a set of hierarchical 2D processes, thus overlooking the role of the designer in the process itself, which makes the interface counterintuitive and disruptive due to the lack of spontaneity in the modeling methods. Current CAD software frameworks have been shown to inhibit creativity when used too early in the design process due to the preciseness of the visual representations (which discourages further revisions), the time-consuming drafting process (which increases the cost of exploring a particular idea), and the expert-level knowledge necessary (which requires special training to acquire). For this reason, such tools are better used in later stages of design which inherently limits and even prevents access to 3D modeling techniques to the lay designer and to many professional designers.
Expression and description of shapes via hand and body movements is a frequent occurrence in general human communication. From a design aspect, natural gesticulation can also be critical in the description of spatial objects. While 2D artifacts like sketches and drawings are better off being created with 2D interfaces, the creation of 3D shapes using 2D interfaces hampers the ability of designers to experiment at conceptual and artistic levels. Creation of organic and free-form shapes thus far been generally limited to glove-based and augmented reality interfaces that are either difficult to setup, involve wearable devices or are expensive to procure. Moreover, the glove-based systems often physically tie the user to the computer, which can significantly limit the “workspace” for the creative design process.
The expression of visual ideas through 2D sketches has naturally evolved through history. Limited by available resources (and money) designers have tended to resort to low-tech physical artifacts such as pen, paper, whiteboards, flip charts, and design notebooks, as well as general-purpose computer software such as word processors, drawing editors, and presentation packages, to support the design process. Common among all of these tools (particularly the low tech tools) is that they impose little restriction on natural use and can be used nearly transparently in creative activities without requiring the users to shift the focus from the creative product to how to manipulate the tools themselves. This low barrier of entry facilitates creativity and refinement and lets the design team concentrate on ideas rather than arcane machinery. A similar natural or intuitive approach to 3D design has thus far not been possible, at least not without an intrusive input device or user interface. The natural human expression of shape is the essence of creativity and visual thinking, which can open up new vistas in the design process, especially in early stages of design, as well as in the development of and interaction with creative and constructive games. Reality-based systems facilitate expert human-computer interaction for all users, expert and novice alike, with little or no prior instruction or training.